The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a wave of stigma that transformed in nature and intensity throughout the course of the pandemic. Ethnic Asians, frontline workers, individuals and families, and other vulnerable groups were impacted by stigma. The ripple effect included reactions toward public health orders, use of personal protective equipment, and how seriously vaccine mandates were taken. It can be argued that stigma – in all its forms, exacerbated the spread of COVID-19.

To set a stigma focused agenda for emergency management, our project will explore the following themes:

1. Understanding of the impacts of stigmatization during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Clarify what constitutes stigma among different emergency management functions and how different professional groups understand the impacts of stigmatization during an emergency.

2. Identify key roles emergency managers played in managing stigmatization during the pandemic.

• What roles they could play versus what roles they did play or have played.
• What systems of practice, procedure, policy, and resources do emergency managers draw on when they respond to, mitigate, and manage the impacts of stigmatization during the pandemic.

3. Identify types of stigmatization emergency managers experienced themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic.

4. Develop a vision of emergency management which has stigmatization management at the centre.